Rashad wants to pummel Jones

If Rashad Evans had his choice, he’d opt to fight Jon Jones to get the UFC light heavyweight belt back.

Of course, Jones has to get past Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at UFC 135 in September, but that’s who Evans wants to take the title from.

“I would prefer to get it from Jones because I would love to be the first one to beat him,” said Evans during the UFC 133 post-fight press conference. “And he’s so cocky. He’s so cocky. You think I’m cocky. He’s real cocky. He’s for real cocky. Like, I’m on camera, joking around cocky. He’s like, goes to sleep, praising himself cocky. That’s how cocky he is.

“I would love to teach him a lesson. If he makes it past Rampage then I get a chance to do that, but like I said, he has a tough fight ahead of him. If Rampage does his work, then he could actually do something. I think Rampage should come and train at my camp for this fight.”

It’s personal between Evans and Jones. The former teammates’ falling out played out in the media when Jones replaced Evans at UFC 128, winning the title from Mauricio “Shogun” Rua setting them on a collision course.

“That’s fine,” Evans said in reply to Jones’ tweet. “If it’s the same old stuff, that’s probably exactly why he didn’t want to fight me the first time. Jon knows how it went when we trained and he knows if I’m focused, strong and healthy. He knows he has a fight on his hands.

“Jon’s a tough guy. Jon’s the champion, but I know what Jon’s weak at. He knows where I’m weak at, but we‘ll see who covers those weak areas up first. He has a tough fight with Rampage. Rampage does move like Frankenstein. He’s not what he used to be in some areas, but I think if he does catch him he could put (Jones) to sleep.”

Evans has waited for title shots before, sitting on the sidelines waiting for scenarios to play themselves out. He’s done with that approach.

“I’m not going to wait by anymore. A fight’s a fight. I just want to fight and I missed fighting so much that when it’s my time to fight, I’m going to fight. Of course, I’m going to make the smart decision, but at the same time I’m not going to be waiting to fight anymore.

“I’m 31 years old and I want to go out there and do some things. If I’m the best, I’m the best. I should be the best against fighting whoever I should fight.

“Dana (White) says it all the time to me, I’ve got to beat everybody anyway if I’m going to be the best. So it doesn’t matter how you stack them up. I’ll knock them down the same.”